We and our in-laws spent four nights in early October at the Hotel Portoghesi. I had discovered this hotel through a travel book which listed it as one of the best moderately priced hotels in Rome. It was exactly what I was looking for. The rooms were very clean and very quiet with no noise from other rooms or from outdoors. The rooms were small as were the bathrooms, but adequate for our needs. The front desk staffers were all courteous, pleasant and helpful at all times.
I was very pleased that the hotel was situated not only, in a safe neighborhood, but also within walking distance of all the major attractions/sights as other reviewers have also noted. Our only taxi ride within the city was to Borghese Gallery, a must-visit booked in advance through the internet.
Breakfasts were fine and consisted of the usual cereals, croissants, yogurts, etc and good coffee especially the capuccino.The sunny breakfast room was located on the roof and included a terrace, which was a little too cold in the mornings to enjoy. We did, however, enjoy a bottle of wine up on the roof terrace one warmer evening before dinner.
A few doors down the street from the hotel is a restaurant, Hostaria Orso 80, that I would recommend for the experience of enjoying their antipasta mista della casa. This is a meal in itself! Four of us were served 15 bowls/plates containing different meats, a variety of grilled veggies, cheese, olives melon etc.--all delicious. They treated us at the end of the meal with limoncello and biscotti.
Years ago we stayed at a luxurious American hotel on the outskirts of Rome, but I must admit I enjoyed the small intimate atmosphere of Hotel Portoghesi more. It gives you the opportunity to enjoy the narrow charming streets, grand piazzas, small churches, neighborhood restaurants and shops of a wonderfully ancient city "up close and personal."

Great location and a pleasant hotel, better than expected. We stayed in room 38 which is perfect for families. There is a double room with ensuite and a sliding (solid) door which can be used as a sitting area but for us the hotel put in two single beds for our children. Air conditioning in both rooms, TV in double. No view but the hotel is so close to piazza novona and lovely cobbled streets. Quiet too, we didn't hear any noise from other rooms. Hotel staff were very friendly to us but I noticed they were less so to a rather loud and forceful American lady in front of us! There's a small roof top terrace for breakfast. Breakfast not very exciting but fairly typical for Italy. All in all a great start to our holiday and would definitely stay there again.

I made a reservation through this hotel's website and decided to cancel a couple of days later. The reservation site sends you a confirmation email with a link to manage your reservation going forward. I used this link to cancel the reservation. To make sure it was indeed cancelled, I clicked on the link again and it said that my reservation no longer existed. So I assumed I was in the clear. However, I returned from my trip to find a charge of $250 from the hotel on my Mastercard. The hotel representative was not helpful at all, saying I needed to provide them with the fax that I sent to cancel. Apparently, using the link in the email wasn't enough. I am disputing the card with the cc company, but most likely won't have any luck.

Read all of the fine print to make sure you are aware of any actions you need to take.

Just arrived back from staying at the Hotel Portoghesi which was perfect for our anniversary break. I selected this hotel since I was attracted by having breakfast on the roof terrace and this is really lovely in the morning and a great way to start the day. The hotel is small and our room was fairly standard but the bathroom looked new and was quite adequate for our needs and the amount of time spent at the hotel. The hotel is very central and perfect for travelling out in all directions. I would definitely recommend this hotel to others who want a centrally located and authentic Italian hotel